Rail yards are used in the rail transportation environments to sort freight cars onto different track sections depending on each freight car's destination after leaving the yard. Yard switching refers to the transfer of a freight car or freight cars from one track to another, typically with the intent of assembling a train bound for a common destination designated for cars attached to the train for departure from the rail yard. In the past, switching of trains in a switchyard required a “switchman” on the ground at each end of the train to properly align the tracks and an engineer in a cab of a locomotive of the train in communication with the switchmen for moving the train down the desired tracks according to the switchmen's instructions. More recently, locomotives equipped with remote control systems have allowed the switchmen to control the movement of the locomotive in rail yard operations without requiring an engineer to control the locomotive. Modern remote control systems allow yard operators such as switchmen to control driverless, microprocessor-equipped switching locomotives controlled by an on-board Locomotive Control Unit (LCU) using a battery-powered portable Operator Control Unit (OCU) to be carried by an operator located adjacent to, but off-board of the locomotive to be controlled.
Typically, switchmen control switch placement and train movement through the yard according to switching sequences provided in a switch list. A switch list may be generated based on inbound trains arriving in the yard, the respective destinations of the cars within the arriving trains, and the destinations of outbound trains leaving the yard. Based on the switch list, the switchman determines a sequence of switch position settings and train movement onto the appropriate tracks corresponding to the switch position settings to accomplish assembly of trains according to the requirements of the switch list. However, switch lists are not typically organized so as to address the switch locations in the rail yard, nor the efficient movement of a switchman among these locations to control the switches.